Monday, August 12, 2013

Don't assume anything herbal or natural is healthy

I have come across some people who think if the doctor recommended one tablet, then two should enhance the effect by cutting short the time of recovery. Then there are those who assume anything herbal is healthier than 'Western medicine'. Then there are those who think a herbal remedy (eg. snake grass plant) which is as good as chemotherapy can be taken as a form of cancer prevention, because they assume there is no harm in anything herbal! But then again, we cannot have anything potent yet has no side effects on a healthy person.

Below is another warning on Chinese herbal remedies...


'Plants of the Aristolochia genus have for centuries been used in Chinese herbal remedies, but they contain a naturally carcinogenic compound that causes mutations in the cells of people who consume them, according to two studies published in Science Translational Medicine today (August 7). The papers reveal that the compound, called aristolochic acid, causes more mutations than two of the best-known environmental carcinogens: tobacco smoke and UV light.

“A lot of people in the lay public assume that if something is herbal or natural that it is necessarily healthy,” said Marc Ladanyi, an investigator in the human oncology and pathogenesis program at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York who was not involved in the studies. “But this work very clearly shows that this natural plant product is extremely genotoxic and carcinogenic.”

More:
http://www.the-scientist.com/?articles.view/articleNo/36919/title/Cancer-Causing-Herbal-Remedies/


Link

1 comment:

  1. Anonymous1:07 pm

    Yes but there are some that are very useful. One such plant is the Dragon Tail Plant. Look at the following link under "Decription"
    https://florafaunaweb.nparks.gov.sg/special-pages/plant-detail.aspx?id=1393
    It work for my friend's dad. Doctor gave him 6 months but he survived 14 years after being diagnosed with bone cancer, thanks to the plant. There are many scientific study done on this plant.
    Incidentally, the plant was found at an old bungalow in Jalan Ampang, Kuala Lumpur. This bungalow was the former residence of the grandfather of a famous herbal medicine chain in Malaysia. The owner vacated the bungalow during the Second World War. A coincidence? Maybe not.

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